The National tribune., 1887-06-09
CORPORAL TANNER.
He Produces Some Interesting EVi-
denCe as to His WOunding.


out in his own defense In private letter to
the Editor of THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE he
says:
362 NINTH ST., BROOKLYN. May 10, 1887.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE:
Two or three nights prior to my being wounded
at the second Bull Run, my regiment (the S7th
n. \. was stationed along the Orange & Alex
andria Railroad at Manassas, BristOw, Catlett's
and the bridge near Catletts. Jackson struck
in there lat Manassas) and tore US pretty well
to pieces. John C. Robinson, then our Briga-
dier, issued an order that the enlisted men of
the S7th should report TO and manuver with
the l05th Pa, and at the time of being wounded
was under the command of Col. Craige, of the
lO0th. Just prior TO my being struck on the
3Oth OF August, 1862, Robinson ordered us to
fix bayonets and lie down, and as we did so /
threw one heel up over the other, and was in
that position when struck. / had been talking
with the Sergeant-Major of the 105th Pa. and
knew his position from the chevrons on his
arms, but did not know his name. The first l
knew OF the extent of my injury was when he
jumped to his feet and exclaimed, g. Ny God !
look at that poor boy with both feet gonel !"
When Joel charged that was a coffee cooler
and stTaggler," that was not in the line of
duty when injured, but was struck by q chance
shot, l had no difficulty in getting the afi-
davlts of the survivors of the comrades who
picked me up and carried me from the field /;
but :hey were of my own regiment, and l de-
sired greatly to secure the evidence of this
SergeantMajor. asked great many ofthe COM
rades of Pennsylvania at different times if they
could not get some track of him,-as to whether
he survived the war, who he was and where he
was,-but never could learn anything of him.
Coming from our Encampment about the 1st Of
March last, Maj. George w. COoney, of New
York, asked me if had ever seen the history
of the 1O5th Pa. l told him no; and did not
know that they had a history published. lie said
IL had been out some years; that he had copy
of it which he would loan me, adding that it
would be particularly interesting to me, as it
mentioned the fact of my having lost my legs
while attached to the command. Possibly you
have the book in your collection. If so, turn
to page IS. where you will find printed the
quotation from the Sergeant-MajOr's diary,
which he gives in the letter / inclose herein.
/ wrote the authoress of the book, explaining
my interest in the matter, and she sent me the
Sergeant Majors name and address. His letter,
take il, wiil not be pleasant reading to Joel or
any other enemy of mine.
Now. in addition TO this would state that
when the boys picked me up they laid me on a
blanket-no stTetcher being available-and
wrapped musket in on each side and lifted
me 10 their shoulders. Neither Of my legs had
been entirely severed-my feet were hang
lhs og VI ucoHs ne Dlaukcb WIS snort,
and lying on it on my face, looked under the
blanket and saw my feet whirling as they hung
of Of the other end. Seine kind-hearted soul
gently lifted them and laid them on the edge
Of the blanket.
Now, after all these years, learn that q
lawyer by the name of Butterfeld, who has an
Office in the Garfield Building, in this city, has
a brother residing in Erie Pa, who was in the
service. A soldier friend of mine sitting in
A DIT C.I1F
duced TO the brother from Erie, and they were
exchanging war "reminiscences. Butterfeld
told of the horrible sight he saw at the Second
Bull Run field, and went on TO tell of the man
who had both feet nearly shot off, gave the
blanket scene, and told how he lifted the man.
gled feet and laid them On the edge of the
blanket. have written him. and hope to have
his response before i mail this. If so, what
ever his answer, will send you a copy of it,
aud out of the whole of this matter / want you
TO put before a certainly quarter of a million
readers Of THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE such a
statement as the facts stated by me, backed up
by the evidence detailed in these letters, will
warrant The more prominence you can give
it the better shall be pleased. / think you
can enter TO great extent into my feelings on
that question, and that il is not necessary for
me to dwell upon them.
Very truly, yours, JAMES TANNER.
p. P.s.-Butterfeld's letter just came. in
close it.-J. L.
The letter from Serg't-Maj Boyington is as
follows:
WASHINGTON, WAsHIEGToN Co., KAN,
May 5, 1887.
JAMES TANNER, Esq, SG2 Ninth Street, Brook
lyn, n. Y.
Ny DEAR SIR AND CoMRADE: Long ago /
had in my own mind laid you away in half
dug soldiers grave on the Second Bull Run
battlefield. aud yet l did dare to think and
hope that the boy who could with both feet
shot away, or only hanging by the bleeding
shreds of mangled flesh, raise a cheer for the
cause and break out in patriotic song as you
did when being borne away from the field was
too brave to die; but no inquiry of mine gave
me any knowledge of your fate after your COM
rades left you with the wounded in the farm
house, and little did imagine that our CorpI
Tanner was the subject of that horrd sight.
Often / have told my comrades and friends
the story Of the to me unknown S7th NY. boy
When Col Craige ordered me 10 take charge
Of your squad you seemed to me to be the only
one TO whom they looked for commands
There were / think IL of you.) And / remem-
Der that you impressed me as being man Of
more than ordinary intelligence and ability,
and that / left the control of the boys almost
entirely in your hands, and that is why we
were together when you were struck.
He must be lOw-lived son Of corruption and
prompted by the evil one that would assert
that you were not in line of duty when wound
ed. / am ready at any time to swear that you
and your squad had been assigned to our regi-
ment, and that / was ordered by the Colonel
to take charge. / know, too, that we were in
line of battle with the regiment when you were
hit What led me TO speak Of its being a can
nOn-ball was, there was no explosion after you
were struck. / recollect il was the whirr of
the missile that caused me to look up when
saw ii coming for u.s. / remember well the
house above US and little to our right with
an old orchard mostly peach between. We lay
in hollow, where a tree had once stood you
on your left aud i on my right side rs we talked.
While talking we noticed a "Speller" near
peach tree just above US i crawled up to il,
and as / lay my hand on il heard and. then
looking up, saw the wbiZzipg fragment coming
down for us. My nose went into the ground
till heard the thud behind me, when looked
and saw at once your sad fate; the bleeding.
feetless legs sticking up so shocked me that
have no recollection Of what may have said.
l will quote verbatim from my journal. writ
ten the next day while we lay near Center
Vile. and which have before me:
Aug. 30. At o'clock a. m. we were again
in line Of battle, and were moved about mile
10 the right and lay down, so as not to be no.
ticed by the enemy. As we lay here the rebels
began 10 shell the regiments that would pass
us from time to time \ few Of the S7th ". Y.
boys were with Us, and Que of them, lying
within five or six feet of me, bad both feet cut
Thy cannOn-ball that strack him. He seemed
10 be brave lad, but il was 4 hesRfcnding
sight To see his look As hesiuck M 10 view his